NCAA INDOOR T&F: Four Timberwolves Set To Compete For All-America Honors
MIDLAND, MICH. – Four Northwood track and field student-athletes are set to compete in the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships that will be held Friday and Saturday (March 9-10) at Pittsburg State University at the state-of-the-art Robert Plaster Center.
The Timberwolves will be represented by senior Carly D'Almeida in the women's weight throw, senior Paul Evans in the men's weight throw, junior Rami Gharsalli in the men's 60 meter hurdles, and freshman Mason Phillips in the men's long jump.
Evans and Gharsalli are making their second straight NCAA Indoor Championships appearance and their third consecutive NCAA Championship appearance (indoor and outdoor). D'Almeida and Phillips are both making their initial NCAA debuts this weekend.
All four Timberwolves will be in action on Friday in pursuit of All-America honors. The schedule for Northwood begins at 3:25 p.m. EST on Friday with Evans in the weight throw. Rami will follow up five minutes later on the track at 3:25 p.m. for prelims of the 60 meter hurdles. Phillips will begin competition in the long jump at 5:50 p.m., with D'Almeida following after at 5:55 p.m. in the weight throw.
If Gharsalli advances to the 60 meter hurdles final, he will compete at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
EVENT BREAKDOWN
MEN'S WEIGHT THROW: EVANS (FRIDAY 3:25 PM)
Evans garnered Second-Team All-America honors in the weight throw last season and will be looking to earn his first podium finish to cap off his indoor career. Recently, Evans broke his own school record at the GLIAC Championships with a throw of 19.83 meters/65 feet-0.75 inches en route to a fourth place finish in a premier field that featured five of the Top 8 weight throwers in NCAA Division II this year.
One of the deepest fields in NCAA Division II history in the weight, Evans will be the No. 12 seed going in to the meet. The men's weight throw will have some familiar faces from the GLIAC Championships two weekends ago, as six of the men selected to compete at the national meet are from the GLIAC.
Evans will compete in the first flight of two in the fourth position. The top nine throws from the opening flights will advance to finals and earn three more attempts.
Previous NU All-Americans in weight throw: Evans (12th in 2017)
MEN'S 60 METER HURDLES PRELIMS: GHARSALLI (FRIDAY 3:30 PM)
Gharsalli is the NCAA Runner-Up in this event from last year's NCAA Championships and will go into this year's meet as the No. 5 seed. An injury-riddled indoor season has kept Gharsalli limited in his races and did not compete at the GLIAC Indoor Championships; however, notched his NCAA provisional mark at the SVSU Jet's Pizza Invitational earlier this year in a season best 7.93 seconds.
Gharsalli will compete in heat one (two heats total) in lane one. Eight will advance to the final - the winner of each heat plus the next six best times.
Previous NU All-Americans in 60 meter hurdles: Gharsalli (2nd in 2017), Marcus Bennett (4th in 2012)
MEN'S LONG JUMP: PHILLIPS (FRIDAY 5:50 PM)
Phillips will make his first NCAA Championships appearance ranked No. 7 in the long jump. He will look to keep the momentum going from the GLIAC Indoor Championships after registering a lifetime best and new school record of 7.53 meters/24 feet-8.5 inches to finish second for an All-GLIAC (Top 3) finish. In that meet, Phillips only took three jumps while passing on his final three attempts to run the 200 meter dash preliminaries.
Phillips will compete in flight two in the first position. The top nine jumps from the opening flights will advance to finals and earn three more attempts.
Previous NU All-Americans in long jump: None
WOMEN'S WEIGHT THROW: D'ALMEIDA (FRIDAY 5:55 PM)
D'Almeida will be making her debut at the NCAA Championships in the weight throw. Her lifetime best throw of 18.45 meters/60 feet-6.5 inches was set at the GVSU Bob Eubanks Open. D'Almeida placed fifth at the GLIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships with a top mark of 17.86 meters/58 feet-7.25 inches in her first conference scoring performance.
D'Almeida is the No. 14 seed and will compete in flight one in the fifth position. The top nine throws from the opening flights will advance to finals and earn three more attempts.
Previous NU All-Americans in weight throw: Kristin Cameron (6th in 2010, 5th in 2011)
MEN'S 60 METER HURDLES FINALS: GHARSALLI (SATURDAY 6 PM)
Gharsalli will have the opportunity to compete for First-Team All-America honors in the event he makes the event finals. It took 8.05 seconds in 2017 and 8.06 seconds in 2016 to make the finals.